12 tips to find new customers in spite of coronavirus

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May 18, 2020, 11:30
12 tips to find new customers in spite of coronavirus

Illustration: Pravo.ru / Peter Kozlov

Lawyers have opportunities to get new clients during the COVID-19 epidemic. Personal meetings, of course, disappear, but Internet traffic has increased by 27%, because people are sitting at home. It's time to take a personal approach and make a double effort in online marketing. This may give you a chance to outperform competitors who do not spend money on marketing. How to do this, told ABA Journal Larry Bodin, an American lawyer, journalist and marketer who provided services to hundreds of law firms that wanted to get more customers and profit.

1. Call current and past customers: ask how they are doing.

Communication has never been so important. Many clients have closed in their homes and need support. Find out how they are doing. Customers will remember that they are not alone during this plague. These calls are not for direct sales. They establish communication and mutual understanding, promote the business in a new way.

2. Turn your lawyers into experts that are visible online

Recognized opinion leaders always get more work done. The secret is to give customers the right information. Lawyers should have a professional portrait, detailed biography and a list of key achievements. The personal section of the site should contain a link to their successful deeds, told in the format of stories, and not a short dry list. Welcome videos and podcasts featuring an expert.

3. Spend four hours a week on business development

Your goal is to meet with two or three people outside your business every week. You won’t find new paid tasks in the office, so you need to go out and communicate with people face to face - unless, of course, the epidemiological situation allows. It can be business lunches with existing and potential customers, meetings of various associations and the like. The secret is to incorporate these activities into your regular work schedule and record what people you met. Do not forget to notice something special in the interlocutors, ask questions about this and say compliments. Ask about the difficulties in their business, avoid talking about yourself.

4. Make your site better

96% of people who are looking for an answer to a legal question use search engines, and 74% look at a law firm’s website before doing anything. Therefore, your portal should be relevant, involving, and answer visitors' questions.
Your resource should be credible. Build it on the principle of "We will not tell, but show." Instead of shouting from the roof: “I am the best lawyer to solve your problems!”, Show that you are them, using a selection of materials:

• A solid FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Think about what customers are asking you at a personal appointment. These are the same questions they ask Google. If it is in your FAQ section, you get an advantage in search engines.
• Tell us what services you provide. If you are helping a business, indicate which one. If you serve the population, describe in what situations you can help. This information is needed by each client.
• Draw attention to success stories - when you win deals and close deals. It can be a story in a paragraph with a description of the client, his problem, the amount that was at stake, and the result.

5. The more you write on the blog, the more customers you will receive.

Strive to write once a week. Law firms that run blogs get 97% more clicks on their sites.

6. Build yourself fame with online reviews

88% of consumers They trust online recommendations as well as personal ones. You can ask new customers how they found you, and invite satisfied clients to write good reviews about you.

7. Try to beat your competitors with marketing.

A minority of law firms has a marketing budget. And this means that you have a chance to break away from competitors with its help. For an effective strategy, you can lay on marketing 8% of gross income excluding salaries. This includes hospitality, the website and its updates, presentations, webinars and podcasts, newsletters, seminars, public relations and so on.

8. Keep in mind the expectations of Internet users.

You can advertise for the older generation in newspapers, on the radio, on television, in the mail, or on the yellow pages. But to reach out to younger ones, you need news on the Internet, podcasts, content, including one that can be shared, and social networks. The Millennials (between 1981 and 2000) are the largest generation now living. And he has his own expectations:

• free downloads, e-books, and blog subscriptions;
• stories that are told using pictures, infographics, videos;
• the ability to share content;
• a business that not only profits, but also gives back.

9. Make sure your site is easily accessible from your phone.

70% of all the time that people spend on digital media, they are sitting on a smartphone. Therefore, your next new client will access your site from a phone, not a tablet or a large computer. Texts in the mobile version should be well readable, you need links for quick calling by phone and for communication via email.

10. Create a video studio

By 2021, 80% of Internet traffic will be videos . Customers would rather see a two-minute explanation rather than read two pages of text. With the help of a video blog, you can achieve the location and trust of the audience. People who saw you in the video feel as if they knew you personally. Shoot videos and post them on Youtube, on social networks and on the company's website. Strive for a duration of 90 seconds.
It is not as difficult as it may seem. It is enough to buy a camcorder, a tripod and download a program for video processing. Or you can choose a room (without windows), place lighting, background and a microphone there.

11. Your biography on the site should be short

Ideally, keep within 200-300 words, which will be described:

• Whom do you serve;
• What issues do you decide;
• How do you do business with clients;
• Your path is right;
• Examples of cases;
• Customers, etc.

12. Focus on facebook

74% of Facebook users go there daily. 54% of respondents said they would prefer to hire a lawyer who actively leads social networks. Among the "millennials" there are even more such - 72%. Facebook has more user interactions than Twitter or LinkedIn, it has the most daily users, and so on.
[In Russia it’s also worth taking a closer look at the Facebook rival - VKontakte, especially if you provide services to the public - Pravo.ru]
Shortened Article Translation "12 tips to market your law practice during the COVID-19 pandemic" .

• Evgeniya Efimenko

12 tips to find new customers in spite of coronavirus

 

[Частный детектив. Армения. Ереван.]

Thanks for the post!